At Monday’s Student Government Association meeting, guests Chief of Campus Security Pat Cunningham and Coordinator of Security Programs Liz Grubb opened up the session with a discussion on bystander intervention and student safety.
Last semester, SGA was instrumental in the soft launch of the It’s On Us campaign on campus, which asks signees to be a part of the solution to sexual assault, not bystanders in the crime.
Monday night, Grubb asked the congress to use its influence on campus to foster a culture of consent, not one of sexual violence.
“I have a lot of content and networking ideas and resources, and you all have the connection to students and the ability to change culture on campus,” Grubb said.
Cunningham also encouraged the congress to keep its peers safe by encouraging each other to walk in groups.
“Every time I see somebody out here walking alone, I think we haven’t done enough to get information out about how important it is to keep each other safe,” Cunningham said.
Another part of SGA’s student body outreach comes in its Coffee and Conversation events on campus, which Vice President Macy Thompson praised in Monday’s meeting.
After the guests left, the focus of the meeting shifted to the process of grant petitioning.
As before, to be able to petition, an organization must be recognized on campus. Pending legislation may allow certain cabinet members to approve relatively smaller grants without the organization going through a formal petition process.
The congress then entered into several periods of debate to discuss how to best edit wording in its grant petition bylaws concerning the hypothetical replacement of its policy review chairman.
In the event of the expulsion of the policy review chairman, a temporary chairman will act until a permanent replacement is chosen in an application and review process.
The revision also allowed the congress to practice speaking formally, using Robert’s Rules of Order, a way of communicating during congress meetings they will be reviewing further at the next chapter meeting.
This article was written by Jessica King.